Lot #3923Civil War Diary of Seaman Charles E Milliken Aboard U.S.S. Seminole, Killed at Mobile Bay

Description:

This is a handwritten diary of some 92 + / - pages in both ink and pencil. The ledger itself is 7'' x 8 1/2'' with brown pressed cardstock covers bound with a thin leather spine, the paper covering embossed with small foliate or branch-like impressions. The interior is dated February 12th, 1864 and continues until August 24th of that year. Charles E. Milliken, Landsman aboard the U.S.S. Seminole, would be killed on August 25, 1864 off Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, Alabama by the explosion of a torpedo while trying to untangle it from lines, whilst towing a number of them ashore for destruction. The interior is fully readable once the hand is gotten down. Interesting entries are primarily about daily life aboard the vessel, weather, small happenings, arrivals or sighting of other U.S. vessels, occasionally mentioning blockade runners and their pursuit....or shelling them at port. The ''frontispiece'' has ''Mr. Chas. E. Milliken / On Board of the USS Seminole / On Blockade of Sabine Pass / Texas / Feb. 12, 1864 / April 7th / off Mobile'' written in both pencil and ink pen. A May 20th entry talks of an alert ''...the flagship (Richmond) fire guns and made signals to the fleet that the Rebel rams were over the bar. and expected an attack to night. We discharged all of our small arms and reloaded again. Called all hands to muster and the Captain told us that we had but once to die and he wanted us to stand bravely at our posts and the Rebels would never take us as the ship would be blown up before he should surrender. He told us our motto was 'Victors or Death, Seminole Forever'.'' May the 26th held a bit of target practice, ''We beat to quarter this afternoon and fired at a target. B. Tucker made the best shot and R. Hahn the second best. All of the shots were good and we sent a challenge to The Hartford for to challenge the squadron to beat us.''. Once off Mobile ''Monitors'' are mentioned quite a bit, although the actual vessels are not named. One August 3rd entry mentions ''A steady fire has been kept up all night by the Monitors on Fort Gaines''. The August 4th entry mentions the line of vessels proceeding into Mobile Bay: ''... The Brooklyn and Octorara took the lead then the Hartford and the Metacomet then the Richmond and Itasca then the Lackawanna and Seminole then the Monongahela and Port Royal then the Ossipee and Kennebec then the Oneida and Galena being the last. We steamed ahead slow until we got near the forts. The Monitors then joined us and opened the ball''. ''The Brooklyn opened and the action became general. The Lackawanna received a shot which killed ½ a gun's crew and threw splinters over us. The Ram Tennessee then steamed out for the Hartford but missing her the Hartford then put in a good broadside into her but taking no effect. She then made for us but we were too fast for her. She then went back to the fort. During the engagement the Tecumseh was sunk by a torpedo.'' The action then continues to mention Metacomet and Port Royal chasing a gunboat. Giving three cheers when that ship was run aground by the Metacomet. Seminole then slipped her anchor when the ram Tennessee was coming toward them, firing at Seminole but missing. The Tennessee then being engaged by the monitors, the Hartford and the Monongahela, she then being buffeted by both Monongahela and Lackawanna. ''The monitors 15 inch shot then began to take effect, knocking a hole in midships of her then another shot went in forward killing one man and taking Adm. Buchanan's left leg off''. The account is all very exciting, after the action, Milliken himself was able to board the Tennessee and relates ''I went aboard the ram and I never see such a sight in my life she was never misrepresented as to her strength. She carries 6 Brook's 120lb rifles, her iron is 8 or 9 inches of solid iron with cotton and wood of about 3 foot thickness''. August 6 mentions the fleet giving three cheers at the surrender of Fort Powell and the capture of a sloop by the Kennebec, this written in ink pen. A second entry that day written in pencil reads ''transferred to the ironclad Tennessee. She is to be put in commission for one of our vessels''. The next few days are involved with other officers and men of the fleet coming aboard to inspect the ship, fixing her smokestacks, steaming around a bit to try out the engines. He then mentions the siege of Fort Morgan, and the rebels striking the boat several times, the ram knocking away their fire. August 22nd talks about all of the boats shelling Fort Morgan and how the rebels have not returned fire. August 23rd he mentions ''the naval battery has sent some Greek fire into Morgan'' and set a fire inside the fort and the fort has raised a white flag. ''2 o'clock Fort Morgan is ours and our flag waves over it in triumph''. His last entry reads ''the Army can be seen marching into Fort Morgan with the drum beating the Star-Spangled Banner''; young Landsman Milliken would meet his death the following day on August 25th, he was 16 years old and had been in the Navy for just over two years. Charles Edwin Milliken was born January 3, 1848 in Malden, Massachusetts. He enlisted aboard the U.S.S. Sabine at New London, CT for a two year term as a Second Class Boy, on the very day his eldest brother was killed at Gaines Mill, August 16, 1862; he was then sent to the U.S.S. North Carolina and then to the U.S.S. Seminole. At some point around March 1864, he was promoted from 2nd Class Boy to Landsman (per the Seminole's muster rolls, other sources give his rate as ordinary seaman or midshipman, both are incorrect). The edges of the covers show a bit of fraying and loss of their paper covering, but the pages and binding remain tight, a few of the pages on the interior show foxing or a bit of water damage with an ink splotch here or there. There is also included, a small envelope (empty) Philadelphia post-marked July 2nd, 1865 (it may be 1863, the last number is nearly illegible), with a return address ''From U.S.S. Seminole'', addressed to a Mrs. A. B. Caswell of Farmington ME. The very rear of the book shows some pencil-written sea shanties ''Yankee Sailors'', ''Uncle Sam'' and ''the Pirates Serenade''. An interesting account by this young lad who bravely went to sea and gave his life in the service of his country. [M. Clifford Young Collection] (3C8205-4E) (2000/4000)

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